


Baby, It's Cold Outside

by Oceans_Away



Category: Lore Olympus (Webcomic)
Genre: Bangin, Cheeky, F/M, Friends With Benefits, Fun, He's fine with that, Hermes is a plaything, Kissing, Light Bondage, Long-Distance Relationship, Nicknames, Old Friends, Open Relationships, Oral Sex, Polyamory, Postal worker fetishes are in, Seduction, Snow, Sugary sweet, Too many one might say, Totally not Christmas winter festival, soft, taking care of each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:22:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28369080
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oceans_Away/pseuds/Oceans_Away
Summary: It's running up to the big winter solstice festival on Olympus, but not everyone is in the holiday spirit. Hermes is overworked, Ares is stuck in the Mortal Realm, and Aphrodite is missing her man. But Ares has an idea that might just cheer his lady and his best buddy up. (Hint: it's making them bang).I took the two characters I find sexiest and gave them smut! Merry Christmas to me![Brief reference to death in winter weather in Ch. 1. Some sneaky communication and seduction that may make some readers uncomfortable if they need depictions of explicit negotiations, but all sexual activity is done with enthusiasm. I do not have the time to take comments on the discourse around this song.]Song:Baby, It's Cold Outside, Ray Charles and Nina Simone
Relationships: Aphrodite/Ares (Lore Olympus), Aphrodite/Hermes (Lore Olympus)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 37





	1. Wrapping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ares sends Aphrodite a gift.

Hermes prided himself in his ability to remain positive, but today was really testing his skills. It was running up to the big midwinter festival that ground Olympus totally to a tinsel-tressed, cinnamon-scented halt for four whole days. In the online age, you would think that people could go four days without post, but every year, Hermes having such a ludicrous length of time off sent Olympus into a frenzy, sending every note, gift and good they could before the privilege was robbed of them.

Hermes dashed through the snow, his nose even redder than usual, his wild hair sticking out from under a knitted beanie, an old college team scarf flying behind him like a banner at a tournament. His wings flapped furiously against the wind, and his heels skidded in mid-air, kicking up white flurries. He balanced a teetering stack of parcels and letters in his arms. He swooped down the mountain and through a swirl of candyfloss cloud. He plummeted with his body straight as a pencil, and planted his feet in the middle of a vast, snow-sprinkled field. The hard ground was trampled and covered by dozens of regimented tents. The scents of wool and leather and bronze and tough, skewered meat hung in the air. Breath puffed in plumes of mist from the mouths of hundreds of men, swinging swords, tacking arrows together, drinking and laughing with a bitter edge. 

Hermes winced and mumbled under his breath. "Gods damn it, Ares, this doesn't look like moving out."

He clucked his tongue and glanced about him, the red bobble on his hat jostling. He caught a glimpse of bright, fiery gold through the bustle. He skated over to it, feet barely brushing the sodden grass. 

He arrived soundlessly at Ares' broad back, hulking over a fire, his dark bronze armour glimmering. He was peering at a checkers match being played between two soldiers, periodically murmuring advice into the younger player's ear, unseen and largely unheeded. 

"Hey, Big Guy!" Hermes clapped Ares on the shoulder, his parcel stack rocking dangerously. 

Ares barked and whipped around, eyes blazing, hand on the hilt of his sheathed sword. He registered Hermes' brash grin, and relaxed, giving him a playful shove on the arm. "One of these days, I'll accidentally stab you in the gut."

Hermes placed the parcel down carefully and made air quotes with his fingers. "'Accidentally.'"

Ares grinned with too many teeth. 

"So, this doesn't exactly look like an army ready to head home." Hermes ventured awkwardly, eying the soldiers dragging their feet around the camp. 

Ares' face fell. He ticked his jaw and rubbed the back of his neck. "This fucking king won't quit. We took two city states this year and he won't just be satisfied and back the fuck down. Like, maybe he hates his wife, but the rest of us have stuff to get home to, you know? The troops are tired. And depleted. He needs to let them rest and redouble in spring, but will he listen to me? Not a fucking chance. It's goat offerings this and snake gut readings that, and all the while I'm stood next to him hollering in his ear 'GO THE FUCK HOME!' The man is a fucking block of wood."

Hermes half-listened to Ares' irritable ramble, tapping his foot and flexing his hands agitatedly, his hair crackling with static under his wool hat. He sneaked a look at his watch. 

Ares shot his eyes to him. "Hey, what are you doing in Olympus dress? If your invisibility slips, it'll start some dumbass alien conspiracy."

Hermes ground his teeth, less subtly looking at his watch. "No time to change. Anyway..." He rummaged in his satchel and drew out a stack of letters, all in pastel coloured, perfumed envelopes, except for one, which was of thick, cream, extremely expensive paper with a fine gold through the weave and Hera's crest in the corner. Hermes stuck them unceremoniously under Ares' nose. "Family says hi."

Ares took them with a delicacy totally at odds with his square, meaty hands. He looked down at them with quiet eyes. He shuffled through them until a pale purple envelope lay on top. His huge shoulders lifted and dropped in a low sigh. "I promised her I wouldn't miss solstice." He cleared his throat and looked up with a melancholic twinkle in his eye. "We have longest night traditions." 

"Bet you do." Hermes smirked.

Ares chuckled, but his gaze drifted magnetically back to the envelope. Hermes' agitation dimmed. He thought back to Aphrodite giving him the letter. She was always gossipy, flirty, sharp, giving no sign of her deeper feelings. But they'd all been friends long enough. Ares and Aphrodite were hollowed out by being apart. As a god of tricks, Hermes was drawn to their playful dynamic and the turbulent energy they spun into the atmosphere around them. He felt it in his sparking nerve endings. When they were separated, they were dulled. 

Ares slipped the letters into a pouch at his belt. The tucking away of the lavender envelope prodded Hermes back to the present pressure. The pressure intensified, as he remembered the final words of Aphrodite, as she'd given him the note. He clapped his hands loudly together and rubbed his fingers, the cold nibbling them, like suckling piglets. "Do you have something for Aphrodite?" he asked. "Because she said, and I quote, 'Tell Ares that if he doesn't reply with a present, I'll put him in a cock cage for a month'." 

Ares burst into a leaping laugh that rang like a starting pistol in a stadium, clanging off the bronze shields leaning idly against tent doors. "Yeah, yeah, cool your jets, I got her something," he said with a sly grin. 

He poked around in his pouch and produced a slightly crumpled envelope. 

Hermes grimaced. "That looks underwhelming."

"Good things come in small packages." Ares shrugged. "You should know that, Shorty." He ruffled Hermes' hair under his knitted hat, the static crackling in his fringe.

Hermes bristled like a kitten and batted Ares away with wind-milling arms. "Cut it out, Ares, I don't have time for this!" 

Ares snorted. "Where's the fire?" 

Hermes snatched the envelope off him and stuffed it in his satchel. A cloud of mist jetted huffily out of his sharp nose. "The fire is under my overworked feet!" He yapped. "Everyone has a stack of holiday cards and everyone thinks their messages are more important than anyone else's! Zeus started up this new speedy delivery without consulting me! I'm flying slower, when I gotta go twice as fast, because Hephaestus took an early break and didn't get that flying cart ready he said he'd give me for the boxes!" His shoulders heaved up and down with rapid, agitated breaths, bunching his puffed collar. “And that's just on one of my jobs! Do you have any idea how many more heroic deaths there are in winter? Falling through ice, falling off mountains, falling under skidding chariots, WHY ARE MORTALS ALWAYS FALLING OVER? WHO DESIGNED THEM? I swear to the Fates, I’m gonna invent a new subspecies built like those weebles that can’t fall over, and I’m gonna slowly replace the bastards one by one!” He glared at Ares’ bemused expression with his fists balled. “And your fucking war doesn’t help, by the way. These troops may look like a bunch of mushrooms growing in a field with a fungal infection, but they’ve wreaked havoc on the Underworld intake rates! You wanna go home? I WANNA SLEEP!” He screeched out the last words in a gust of cloudy air that momentarily veiled Ares. 

When it cleared, Ares was watching him with an amused twist to his mouth. “You done?”

Hermes glared hotter. 

“Give me your wrist,” Ares said gruffly.

Hermes frowned. “Why?”

“Just do it.”

“I don’t have ti- Hey!”

Ares grabbed his hand and held it firm. Hermes could feel him using barely a pound of his strength, there was no point in struggling, Ares could hold a young god like he was holding a moth by its wings. With his other large hand, Ares dipped once more into his pouch and withdrew a long, shimmering pink ribbon. Hermes raised a quizzical eyebrow. Ares shook the ribbon out, whipping with the frost blue sky behind it. He yanked Hermes’ wrist towards him and wrapped the ribbon a few times around his wrist, then tied it in a tight, surprisingly even bow. He stood back and put his fists on his hips, his thigh jutting.

“Uuuuh…” Hermes held up his wrist. “Why?”

“It’s a stress management technique,” Ares replied flatly. “When we get worked up, we start to unearth, and it’s worse for you because you’re already flying. Pluck the ribbon against your skin and it’ll help break the chattering in your head.”

Hermes looked at the flourishing bow. He pinged it against his fine veins. It hummed on his pulse. “Neat,” he said uncertainly. “Hey, what was this for? You hate stress management, it's like the anti-Ares."

Ares shrugged. "Yeah, but I felt bad. I wound you up for a snack, then turns out you actually have shit on your plate."

Hermes pursed his lips and narrowed his eyes. "You're such a-" 

"Aaaanyway, we both have work." Ares spun a grumbling Hermes by his shoulders, lifted the stack of parcels with one hand, reached round and dumped them back into Hermes' arms, almost sending him crashing to the floor. 

Hermes scrambled to gather himself, huffing at the weight of his burden.

Ares leaned heavily on his shoulder, making him groan. "Oh, and Hermes?" 

"What?" Hermes said through his teeth. 

"Stay with her while she opens my letter."

"Ares, I don't have ti-" 

"Fly safe!" 

Ares clapped Hermes on the ass, sending a jolt up his spine that shot him into the air like a firework. He snarled into the snow, the wind rattling the brown paper on the parcels, the bobble on his hat trembling with frustration.

He zoomed back into the clouds and the cold of the high mountain. 

* 

A holiday song crooned out of the radio. Aphrodite sat dismally in her kitchen, staring into a bowl of melting ice cream and swirling it dully with a spoon. The room was dripping with so many decorations that it looked as if the walls could cave in any minute. Pine and laurel branches, twined with dried orange slices and cinnamon sticks, decked the shelves and mantels, scenting the air with a refreshing, spiced, cosy fragrance. Garlands of glass baubles sparkled. Candy canes gleamed in bowls dotted around the table and counters. Paper snowflakes dressed the ceiling, dangling down and fluttering with every small movement beneath them. The cupboard doors hung half open, full to bursting with treats and table accessories. 

The kids had done such a great job, so Poppa would be excited when he got home. 

So much for that. 

Aphrodite scooped a gloop of raspberry ripple and wrinkled her nose at it. She let it slide off her spoon and land back in the bowl with a splat. She sighed miserably. Ares was supposed to be home days ago. They had so many plans. _She_ had so many plans. She'd kept a journal while he was away all summer and autumn of every freaky thing she'd wanted to do to his delicious body, so she could check them off over days snowed in in the house. Then he'd extended his trip. And again. And again. Now all those little mischiefs were trapped in her body, bustling in her blood and making it uncomfortably hot. She felt like a cat with a scratching post, except the post was wrapped in plastic so she couldn't get at the weave to rip it up, scrabbling uselessly at the barrier to her satisfaction. Eventually, the chorus of desires turned into a tuneless whining in her head. Then they dwindled and one clear want wailed over them. She wanted closeness. She wanted to roll over in the night and find warm sheets. She wanted the quick breath of an overwhelmed lover tickling her ear, to feel the desperate grab of their hands. 

The spoon began to slip in and out of the pink swell of ice cream, glistening as the smooth head sank deep into the ripple and stirred, then withdrew with a wet suck, smeared and shining. 

A knock came at the door. Aphrodite leaped out of her skin. She dropped the spoon with a clatter and hurried to the door, wafting her face cool again, straightening her tight, violet sweater and wriggling a little against the warm wool. 

She opened the door to a pile of parcels with a pair of long, denim legs sticking out of the bottom. The parcels rocked and lowered, thumping onto her threshold. Hermes stood with the gentle, balletic tumble of snow behind him. The white flakes lacing his hair, his dark eyes bright, his rosy cheeks flushed to burgundy. 

Aphrodite perked up, her ponytail swishing. "Jam Pot!" 

Hermes beamed. The force of his smile hit her as always, but there was more to it. Want. The boy was drenched in it. A chilli and wine scent that filled Aphrodite's senses without warning. She blinked in surprise and steadied herself with a hand on the doorframe. She twitched her nose and tried to get the specifics. It was that particular kind of want that comes of anger. Ares was prone to it, the sharp need that comes from chasing release. From feeling trapped and craving freedom.

She cocked her head. "Hey, Hot Sauce, you doing OK?" 

Hermes looked shiftily about. "Yeah. Why?" 

Aphrodite eyed him. "No reason." She sniffed and puffed the powerful, tempting scent from her nose. "So, you got something for your favourite customer?" 

"Of course." Hermes winked exaggeratedly and opened his satchel. He fished about in it and flourished a crumpled, papyrus envelope in front of her face. "Read 'em and… well, hopefully not weep."

Aphrodite took the envelope. It was addressed with Ares' spiked handwriting. "Momma, 36 Graces Street, Olympus". 

"This is definitely for me this time, right?" Aphrodite said carefully. "Because the last time the Ma and Momma letters got mixed up, he couldn't look Hera in the eye for a month."

"Nah, we're good, promise," Hermes said. "He said I had to wait for you to open it, so would you mind doing that real quick?" 

Aphrodite nodded and eyed the envelope. She pinched it and ran her finger and thumb along it. Empty. The back of her neck prickled. She sucked in her lips. She slipped her phone from the back pocket of her capris pants and started to tap on the screen primly with her thumb. 

"What are you doing?" Hermes asked with a touch of nervous irritation in his tone. 

"Ordering a smaller cock cage," she replied with an arched eyebrow. 

"He said there was a present in there."

She scoffed. "If it doesn't jingle, is it really a present?" 

Hermes' blithe face turned jagged. "Would you just open it so I can go?" 

An icy breeze whisked through the door and dusted her cheeks with cold. She gave him a warning look. "Someone's got his panties in a twist."

Hermes' mouth crumpled and he tapped his foot, folding his arms so his jacket bunched around him, like ruffled feathers. She rolled her eyes, pocketed her phone, and snicked open the letter with a long, lethal fingernail. She opened the note, the tap-tap-tap of Hermes' toe on her doorstep prodding her tight nerves. She tossed the envelope to the floor and scanned the note. 

_To my queen,_

_Fuck, I miss you. Nothing is fun here anymore, it's just a big old stew of wanting to be home and feeling like an idiot for agreeing to it in the first place. I've been putting all my time into this soothsayer, but no matter what I do, he won't get my "end the war" omens. Yesterday ,I literally wrote "If you don't finish this, I will turn everything you eat for the rest of time into live hornets" in sacrifice blood, and he turned round to the king and said "Ares blesses our next battle". What a dick. He must be doing this on purpose. No one is this shit at their job. Never mind, there's Dad. Anyway, it's shit and I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry, Beautiful._

_I promise we'll celebrate the holidays late when I get home. I'll even wear that sleigh pony costume you like. For every day I'm away past the feast, you can do one thing to me that makes me limp the next morning. That's if you can move when I'm done with you. Fuck, I'm gonna be like a bear with a honey pot when I next see that body._

_Smooch the kids for me, and tell them they're the best things alive in the realms. And tell Eros, Gods, I don't know, but make sure he knows I'm thinking about him._

_I'll be back as soon as I can, Sugar Plum. I mean, look at you, how's anyone supposed to keep away?_

_With all my stupid heart,_

_Ares_

_P. S. Your present's the one with the ribbon on it. Enjoy! I love you and your pleasure._

Snow whispered over the doorstep and melted on her bare feet. She gazed down at the letter, stroking her thumb over the ink. She could hear the words in his gruff, rumbling voice. The voice that vibrated in her belly. The prickling in her body dissipated and was replaced with a heaviness, the kind of sodden weight you get when fabric is holding water. 

She felt Hermes' eyes on her. His electric energy seemed a little quelled. 

"Did he give you anything else?" she asked, looking down at the post script with round eyes. 

Hermes rubbed the back of his head, tugging his knitted hat back on his brow. "Sorry, no."

Aphrodite looked up. "Just, there was something about a…" Her eyes landed on the pink ribbon shimmering on Hermes' raised wrist. Her pulse skipped. "Say, where did you get that? Not exactly your style." 

Hermes glanced where she was looking. He lowered his hand to hover between them. "Ares gave it to me. Something about stress management."

Aphrodite's radiant smile sprouted from her heart and bloomed blindingly over her face. "Well…" She sank to let her hip bob outwards, accentuating her cascading curves. "Isn't he a sweetheart."

Hermes' eyes widened, as Aphrodite draped herself like pouring syrup against the doorframe and gave him a warm look under a loose curl of her parma violet hair. He grew hot in his coat, defying the cool kiss of the breeze on his back. 

"Jam Pot," she said sweetly, "Why don't you take a little break? You look run off your feet. We could have some cocoa." 

Hermes felt a pang behind his sternum. "Oh, jeez, that's awful sweet, Dite, but…" 

She rolled her shoulder and peeled back a little to unveil her large, colourful kitchen. It was like a confetti cracker popping, it looked so happy and fun. And it was warm. Warmth oozed lazily out of the house and hugged Hermes' stiff body. 

"Just a little cup," Aphrodite coaxed. "Ten minutes tops."

Hermes rubbed his temple. His voice came a little strained. "I'm just so behind…"

Aphrodite took his hand from his temple and closed it both of her soft ones. "Oh, Hermes, you're freezing." Her voice was like a lullaby on a cello. 

Hermes tried to pull away, but found his fingers hooking into hers. "It's been such a long week, you know?" 

She pouted and rubbed his hand in smooth rhythmic circles. "Of course it has. It's such a busy time for you."

"It really is," Hermes whined. 

"And it just goes so unappreciated." She raised wide, stunning, sympathetic eyes to him. "I mean, I know everyone is busy at the holidays, but it's not fair to make it harder for you."

"It isn't!" 

"You do such a good job for us, Hermes. You deserve some extra special care this time of year."

"I… I do?" 

She squeezed his hands, her eyes fluttering in pretty surprise. "Well, obviously! Oh, Winter Berry, don't tell me you haven't had anyone looking after you at the end of your long days?" 

A snowflake fell on Hermes' hot face and hissed into steam. "N-no."

Aphrodite tutted, her full lips puckering like icing sugar flowers. "That's just no good. Then the least I can do is give you some cocoa. And I won't take no for an answer. Olympus needs you fighting fit." One hand left his fingers and rubbed his chest through his jacket. 

"Yeah…" Hermes' knees weakened and he tilted forward towards the embrace of the kitchen and the press of her hand. "It sure does…" 

Aphrodite smiled. "It sure does."

*

Hermes' hands melded to the warm mug, the cold drizzling off his skin, as Aphrodite pushed the cocoa into his hands. He was sitting on the couch, with no real memory of how his shoes, jacket, hat and scarf all ended up thrown over a nearby armchair. He was only going to hover in the kitchen, but somehow… 

The cocoa was rich, its scent muddling his senses, and it was piled with a curl of cream scattered with marshmallows and jelly beans. 

Hermes grinned. "How'd you know this is my favourite way to take it?" 

Aphrodite perched on the back of the couch, her round thigh very close to his cheek. "It's how Ludus takes it," she answered with an extra twinkle in her starry eyes. 

Hermes laughed a little awkwardly. "How is the little tyke?" 

She smiled like the first flowers of spring. "Skating and snowball fights and stick forts and sugar. He's at his best this time of year." She smoothed Hermes' hair back, but it only sprang up again, just as tousled. "Just like you."

Hermes tensed his body against the rippling sensation from her touch. He cleared his throat and shuffled his fingers on the mug. "My best? This is my worst time of year."

"But you're at your best," she insisted softly, tipping slightly towards him. 

Her sweater was fitted to her hourglass body and scooped low on her cleavage. The cold had brushed her at the door and now her nipples stood to attention, tenting the fabric. Hermes gulped and stuck his face in his cocoa, slurping the sweetness. 

"Just think," she went on in a dove-coo voice, "All that stress, all that hard work, and you still met me with a big, Hermes smile."

Hermes bobbed back up from the dizzying loveliness of the hot drink, pouring comfort through his insides. "I always have a smile for you, Dite."

She chuckled low. "Sweet Chilli, you always have plenty for me." 

She combed her fingers more firmly through his hair. The rippling sensation in Hermes' flesh turned to a frantic fluttering. His hands shook and a drop of melted cream trickled over his fingers. Aphrodite noticed. She took one of his hands away from the mug gently and brought it to her lips. She slipped his middle and index fingers into her mouth and sucked. Hermes' cock nudged his zipper. A fine sweat broke out on his thighs. His lower lip quivered. 

"A-Aphro-dite…" he stammered. "I can't stay…"

She released his fingers, kissing them and pressing them back to the mug, leaving them tingling with the heat of the china and her mouth. "I know, Winter Berry, so you better drink up."

Hermes took a deep draught of the cocoa. Its richness flooded his tongue and made his head spin. He felt it all the way down his oesophagus and into his belly. He sighed, his angular shoulders dropping. 

"Good boy," Aphrodite murmured, her hand running along his shoulder and curling on the back of his neck. "Let's untangle some of those knots." 

She began to massage the back of his neck. It had been stiffened to pine by the effort of carrying his load and flying straight in the blustering wind. She kneaded the tough muscle, her strong fingers working him like gingerbread dough. Hermes dropped his head back with a muffled groan, her touch teasing the base of his skull. He had a blob of cream on the end of his nose. Aphrodite bent down and licked it off. Her smile ghosted over his lips, then drew away. A pulse went through his cock. He closed his legs a fraction.

He rocked his head straight again and took another chocolate and cream gulp, chewing a strawberry jelly bean. He kept his eyes determinedly away from the snug cupping of her breasts by her pastel sweater. "I'm sorry, Dite, I never asked how you're doing? Holidays must be a little rough with the big guy stuck in the Mortal Realm."

Aphrodite's liquid gaze roved to the large, French windows looking out to the wild garden and the serene street beyond. Her hand slowed on his neck. The snow began to fall a little heavier, powdering the rim of the windows, like makeup. A fringe of diamond icicles dressed the tops of the windows and sparkled, like sequins. 

She sighed musically. "Oh, I'm OK. Holidays are busy, people get romantic. But it's both occupying and a little sore. I spend all day creating dreamy ice skating dates, timing blushing parcel mix ups, and turning the heat up at parties. Then I come home to a big, empty bed."

Her touch slid down to his shoulders and deepened. He took another chocolate swig. The sensations sank down to his toes. 

"And there's this…" She paused wistfully. "Ache. I'm just aching. Lying there in the sheets." Her fingers trailed up the back of his neck and teased the roots of his hair, then sneaked back down to turn his muscles to butter. "It's not natural for a love goddess to be alone in bed. I find myself tossing and turning awfully, rolling in the silk, letting it stroke around my body, just doing anything to take that ache away." She stroked over his shoulder and down to his chest. 

Hermes' heart jumped into a canter. He shifted a little under her hand, as if to slip away. She added the lightest bit of pressure and he found himself immobile. "Uh… Uhuh…" 

"Wanting is so tiring, you know?" Her fingertips brushed over his nipple. “The way it fills up your whole body, so you're carrying this weight around all day.”

“I get that…” Hermes croaked, clenching against the thrumming in his cock, as Aphrodite leaned over him and plunged him into her perfume. Her capris were so tight on her thighs, like fabric pulled over plump, inviting cushions.

“You do?” She said with heart-melting hope. “And that feeling when people talk to you and you're being all smiley and polite, but you just wanna grab them,” her fingers curled on his shirt, “and scream ‘Gods, how are you so calm? Can't you see? I'm burning, I'm burning alive!’” Her voice was breathy and her fingernails clawed just above his pip-hard nipple.

The snow whirled and flurried against the window, whiting out the world.

“Burning alive…” Hermes echoed weakly, the blood pounding in his ears. His stomach kicked. “Dite… I really can't stay.”

“But, Baby,” Aphrodite crooned, “It's cold outside.”

Hermes looked to the veins of frost on the glass wall. He looked to the array of plump pillows on the plush furniture, the clean, creamy, deep carpet, the golden lamp light. A groan escaped his throat. “I’ve got to go.”

“I’d been hoping that you’d drop in.” She brushed his jaw with her fingertips and tilted his chin up to look into her mulled blueberry wine eyes.

His brow crumpled. “Apollo will start to worry…”

“Jam Pot, what’s your hurry?”

“And Hecate will be pacing the floor…”

She touched the rim of his mug and pushed it towards his unstill lips. “Maybe just a half a drink more.”

“Zeus and Hera might think…” His words were lost in a rich, dark swallow of cocoa. His senses went headlong in sugar. “Say, what’s in this drink?” He drained the dregs, his body warm and fuzzy and hard and tingling.

“It’s not safe to fly out there.” Aphrodite curled a lock of his wild hair around her long finger. “Your hair looks nice.”

Hermes gazed up at her, a twilight cloud, shimmering and soft. “Your eyes are like starlight…” he whispered.

Aphrodite leaned over him, slipping the mug from his fingers and putting on the coffee table, smothering him in her curves. Hermes sank beneath her, his cheek dropping onto her thigh, rubbing on it like a kitten. A sleepy relief washed over him. She sat back up and petted his hair.

“I ought to say no…” he mumbled into her thigh, his lips grazing her.

“Mind if I move in closer?” Her request ran down his spine like rum. 

“Mmph, OK…” he kissed her thigh in earnest. She moved under his lips and slid down from the back of the couch to straddle him on the cushions. Her weight pushed him down into the cradle of feather stuffing. His arms wrapped around her waist unbidden. Her face was so close to his, he was falling in her glittering pupils. He reached up and tugged the tie from her ponytail. Her hair cascaded around them, a lavender whirlwind that whisked him deeper under her influence. Her lips dusted his. He sighed against them. “At least I’m gonna say that I tried…”

“Mmm, Baby, don’t hold out.”

“Yeah…” He parted her lips with his. “It’s cold outside…”


	2. Unwrapping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aphrodite indulges in the gift Ares sent.

He parted her lips with his. “It’s cold outside…”

They poured into a kiss, tongues swirling, hands skating on each other’s bodies, melting together like pudding mix. 

Aphrodite rushed with relief. Hermes’ restless, wanting mouth was hypnotic. He cupped her ass and brought her close. She settled into his gentle insistence. Hermes treated everything in life like a surprise present to be unwrapped. It was exactly what she needed, to feel like a gift, to inspire excitement, to be treated like a new toy - both thrown roughly about in glee and caressed in wonder. She scooped her hips and dragged her clit along the ridge pushing through his jeans. She smiled against his lips. He was hard already. How delightfully easy. Good, old, reliable Hermes. She slipped her fingers into his hair and steered his mouth from hers and down to her throat. He moaned softly and fell to sucking her neck, his tongue snaking over her tingling skin. Pleasure skipped through her. 

“You remember how I like it?” she whispered.

“Are you kidding?” Hermes chuckled, his breath hot over her jugular. “Remembering how you like it is how I spend most showers.”

Aphrodite laughed, high and melodic. Hermes growled like a tiger cub and gathered her close against his body. He smelled of snow and paper and cocoa and espresso. They kissed fervently. He started to wrestle with her clothes, his eagerness intoxicating. Her sweater suddenly clung to her and itched like acid. She writhed in his lap, helping him to undress her, riding the bounce and squirm between her thighs, as they stripped him too. 

“Everything?” he panted.

“Gods, yes,” she breathed.

Their underwear was flung across the room, landing in a stream of lace and cotton over a lamp and casting the room into a softer glow, the pattern of Aphrodite’s panties projected in sepia onto the walls, as if they were inside the intricate form of a snowflake. 

Her flesh flared with the raw exposure to Hermes’ heat. She pressed her body to his. His cock slid into her folds, striking her clit, like a match. Her breasts and belly squashed against his torso, warmth gushing through her body. She cupped his cut-glass jaw and tumbled into another sensuous kiss. Hermes moaned into her mouth, his cock swelling between her labia, his hands racing around her back and arms. She loved that about him. Most guys went straight for her tits and wouldn’t let go. She couldn’t exactly blame them, but her real lovers earned their place by wanting to touch her everywhere, by loving her whole body, her whole self. That said, her nipples were hard as sucking candy. She peeled back a fraction from Hermes, smiling at his trembling lip and hazy, strawberry juice eyes. She moved his hands from her back to cradle her breasts. 

His expression wilted. “Fuck…”

“Mmm, tease me, Sweet Chilli.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” 

Hermes grinned and slid his thumbs up over her perked nipples, strumming them and sending zaps of pleasure over her skin. The hairs on her arms stood on end, her clit pulsed. He quickened his pace, ticking his hips up to encourage her to rock on him, pleasure zipping between her nipples and clit. She moaned, her eyes closing and the darkness enveloping her. She felt for his nipples and matched his pace, pinching and plucking them into punishing points. Hermes’ unintelligible murmuring caressed her ears. 

He leaned into her. Her eyes flicked open. She saw him reaching around her to the mug on the coffee table. He scooped a wad of melted marshmallow onto his fingertips and leaned back to face her, his eyes dazzling with mischief. He dragged his fingers over her nipple and crowned it with the pink goo. He locked her eyes, ducked down, and took her breast into his mouth, sucking and sweeping his tongue around the dripping sugar, painting pleasure over her flesh with every slow lap.

Aphrodite arched her spine and gripped and twisted his nipples. He snarled thickly and came up to gasp. She caught his mouth and kissed him feverishly, dining on the sticky sweetness on his lips. He stroked her cheek, then slipped his thumb between their mouths, splitting them apart like the halves of cooked chestnuts. He slid his thumb over her puckered lip. She sucked and nibbled it, their eyes connected by threads of lightning. He popped his thumb free and pressed it to her clit, circling softly in the slick of her saliva. The sensation electrified her. She gasped and bucked her hips into his touch, the supple insides of her thighs chafing on the outsides of his.

“Yeah, Lady Love, you been needing that?” Hermes murmured wickedly

“Not half as much as you have,” she retorted with a sultry laugh, her mouth sinking to his ear and sucking on the lobe, as her fingers danced on his nipples and collar and abs. 

Hermes felt like ginger beer fizzing. Aphrodite’s pussy swelled in his hand, her touch tormented him. All the brutal stress of the day started to crumble away like dried marzipan. Aphrodite’s body undulated against him, her fat snug on his muscled body, giving him the feeling of swimming in a hot spring. He traced his touch around her pussy, the scrap of his mind not overwhelmed with want carefully reciting every detail of her pleasure he knew, massaging here, tickling there, pressing on that one sweet spot just long enough to bring her to the edge, then releasing her just before breaking point. Her breathing rumbled in his ear, her legs trembling around him.

“Fates, Hermes…”

“That feel good?”

“It feels so good.”

“Oh yeah…" He hummed. "I wanna make you feel good, you luscious lavender macaroon.” 

She giggled and peppered his cheek with kisses. He beamed and blushed and leaned into her lips. He’d said it truthfully. It was like she’d said earlier, no one really appreciated how much work he did this time of year. Having someone he adored as much as his dear friend sighing her satisfaction into his ear gave him a dizzying high of pride. He gave her a final tease, grinning at how she wriggled in his hand. Then softly laid his hands on her hips and lifted her out of his lap, placing her with her legs spread deliciously on the couch beside him. 

She shot him a simmering, mocking look. “What are you up to, Hot Sauce?”

Hermes licked his teeth. His heart drummed rapidly. He held her burning gaze and dropped from the couch to kneel on the carpet before her. She flashed him a scheming smile. He winked. He could feel the mischief darting between them, like a bee buzzing between blooms. It righted his body, emptied it of the strain and filled it with what he knew best. Play.

“You gonna be a naughty boy?” Aphrodite asked in a smoky voice.

“Oh no,” Hermes purred, “I’m gonna behave just how Momma wants.”

Snow kicked up against the French windows, crystals shattering and sparkling with fragments of rainbow in the dwindling sunlight. Aphrodite’s pulse whipped with it. Hermes’ hunger coated her with sweetness, like cranberry sauce spreading on juicy meat. She reclined back into the couch and splayed her legs, her pussy suddenly seized with a wonderful ache. Hermes ran his hands slowly up her thighs. The ribbon on his wrist caught her eye. She warmed and smiled. It made him look like a wrapped candy cane. She thought of Ares, connected to her across the miles by the pleasure they wanted for each other. Hermes was more than a messenger today, he was a thrumming cord binding them together. She thought of Hermes and everything they’d shared. Long, sticky summers and cosy, cuddling autumns. His mercurial nature fed her experimental one, willingly letting her warp him into whatever elements she wanted to see react. He was the trouble in still waters, the spring in the mechanism. She thought about all the times he’d joined her and Ares in their bed, the way he writhed between them, delightfully disturbing the already effervescent energy in their relationship, like dropping a mint into cola. Ares had known from miles away. Aphrodite never asked for comfort, it had to seek her out. Hermes was exactly who she needed.

She sucked on her tongue and flickered her fingers. The ribbon fluttered in answer and slinked open on Hermes’ wrist. He blinked at it in surprise. It snaked up his ridged forearm and over the mound of his bicep. He shivered prettily, as it slithered over his shoulders and coiled around his throat. She grinned around a bite on her lip. It tugged tight. Flame leaped in Hermes’ eyes. She rotated her finger. The ribbon loosened and wormed down to encircle his chest, revolving briskly to rub his nipples in a slowly increasing smoulder. Hermes groaned and shuddered, the tendrils of his hair standing on end. He tumbled forward and hugged her waist, his mouth surrendering to her breasts. He kissed and sucked and licked all around the tingling flesh, the tip of his lashing tongue spinning webs of sensation around the pinpoints of penetrating pleasure in her nipples. 

She keened and threw her head back, combing one hand into her hair and sweeping back to relieve the rush of blazing heat. She grabbed Hermes’ hair with her other hand and twisted it in her fist. “Yes, yes, fuck. More, Hermes…”

The ribbon reacted to the lust galloping through her veins. It helter-skeltered around Hermes’ torso, tickling and stroking him rapidly, the ends kissing his nipples and over his kidneys. He moaned and squirmed, hugging her closer and mumbling into her softness, devouring her in sucking, sloppy kisses, glazing her breasts and belly and the insides of her spread thighs. Pleasure raced around her body, Hermes’ desire pumping into her senses, making her so hot she could hardly breathe. The ache in her clit intensified, thumping every time his lips or his hair brushed close.

“You…” she gasped, “You awful tease…”

Hermes snickered. He peeked at her over her curves. He unfurled his tongue from his cherry mouth and curled it just a breath away from her tender, swelling flesh, his eyes fiery with trickery. Aphrodite laughed and thrust up into his mouth. His resounding laughter vibrated through her flesh. He dove into her, his glittering eyes closing indulgently and his tongue flashing over her tenderness, then writhing deep. Pleasure gripped Aphrodite. Her body spasmed. She shook it out of her hands and grasped the pillows either side of her. She rolled her hips in a needy rhythm, summoning Hermes’ devilish tongue deeper still, dragging her clit over it, sending ripples over her abdomen. 

“Fuck, fuck, Hermes... Oh… Oh… Oh, yes!” her voice streamed out of her, singing on the vast panes of iced glass. 

The shadows of her lace over the lamp swirled. Hermes clutched her hip with one hand and steadied her frantic pace, driving her with his firm, expert lapping. His other hand darted to his cock and began to stroke hard. She felt him high on her pleasure, it was beautiful. He was beautiful. 

“Gods, this is good.” Her words came strained with want. Her knuckles went white on the cushions. 

Hermes growled and sucked on her clit like a lollipop, releasing it swollen and pounding, with a soft smacking sound. He pummelled it with the end of his tongue, then drew a long, greedy lap up her pussy and dove back to gorging on her. She wailed and bucked. She flicked her index and sent the ribbon whipping. It closed on Hermes’ throat again, making his breath come rapid, rushing her pussy with hot panting, then it flew down to caress his hand on his cock, and snaked round to bind his balls.

“Mmmphfffuck…” Hermes groaned, his tongue tangled in her folds. 

She grinned like a lynx, watching his shoulder blades go jagged and his biceps tense, as the ribbon tightened and shot thorned pleasure into his cock. She giggled and relaxed into his fresh wave of ravenous laps. 

Pleasure washed her. Her body thawed, the cold and loneliness and frustration eaten away by Hermes’ hot, hungry mouth. His tongue moved like flowing brandy, filling every crevice in a glistening fruit pudding. His saliva muddled with her spiced wetness, drizzling down his sharp chin and slicking in her labia. His hand on her hip drifted to tease her seam, tickling softly and sending pulses of need up her spine.

“Yes!” she gasped. “Yes, Hermes, more!”

Her knees floated up, her legs wide, opening for him. He sank and licked her seam, slurping her juices, his eyes glassy. Then rose to ardently kiss her clit, as two of his dextrous fingers slid inside her. A deeper, sharper pleasure dashed into her blood. She froze, filling with tremors, and clenched around his fingers, sapping the pleasure from his intimate touch. Hermes sighed into her flesh and began to curl and pump his fingers, spinning her pleasure around him like candyfloss around a stick. His kisses gushed over her clit. His fingers plunged in and out of her seam, her juices trickling into his palm. Her arousal perfumed the pine-scented air. Her hair gummed to her back. Her lungs scorched with her panting. Her legs shook and ached. She rolled her nipples between her finger and thumb and scattered mewls into the room from between her chattering teeth.

Hermes figured he was learning how mortals felt when they came to shrines. It was always otherworldly being with Aphrodite, but this, when he’d been crying out for relief, it was a bolt of blessing. Her taste overpowered him, her grind on his mouth smouldered in his jaw. His cock pounded agonisingly, he couldn’t stroke hard enough to quell the need shooting into it from the tight binding on his balls. He sneaked glances up her undulating body, mesmerised by her harmonious curves moving beneath the lacing of shadow, like frothing water under still ice on a dark lake. He needed that water flowing over his whole body. He needed to ride those rapids.

He came up from her pussy, sucking his drenched lips and gasping for breath. He kept his fingers moving in her, the easy slide in and out making him smile. She looked down and smiled back, her hair wild and silky around her glowing-berry face. Her smile called to everything in him that was young and impulsive and carefree. Everything he liked most about himself. He whisked his hand away, cackling at her whine and pout. He leaped up, snatched her hands, and pulled her to her feet. She jumped against his body. The ribbon releasing his balls and coiling into a pink garter around his strong thigh.

“Tease!” she scolded.

“Oh, don’t you worry, Sugar Mouse,” Hermes laughed.

He pulled her across the living room, grinning wildly at how her flesh quivered with the stumbling pace. He reached the French windows, glitzy with the prancing snow. Pink and blue and purple bursts of winter light fizzed in the tumult of white, like fox-fires. The sparkle fell on Aphrodite, her sumptuous flesh glistening, her hair glossy, her eyes prismatic and captivating. He bit his lip and gazed at her, his heart beating a toy soldier drum. Mischief stoked in his belly. He gnashed his teeth and pulled her hard, flinging her round to bump her back against the glass. He pounced and caged her there, cupping her pussy and rubbing her vigorously, pressing her against the smooth surface.

“Jam Pot!” she squealed indignantly.

“What?” Hermes asked innocently, pressing his fingertips hard into her clit.

Aphrodite shuddered violently, clawing down his chest. “It’s cold!”

“Uhuh.” Hermes bounced his eyebrows and bent to her face. “Baby, it’s cold outside.” He ran his lips along the shell of her ear, the frost of the window kissing his nose and arms.

She shuddered again, her talons in his chest spiking him with pleasure, the ribbon constricting his thigh and tingling. “I knew you were going to be naughty,” she hissed.

“Isn’t it nice how well we know each other?” Hermes whispered.

He slapped her ass, the sound echoing off the glass. She wriggled and bit his jaw. He hoisted her up around his hips, holding her tight, like a python. He drove his cock into her seam. 

Their mutual cry of pleasure rattled the window pane. Hermes’ blood raced, his flesh caught fire. He stumbled forward, crushing Aphrodite to the window and laughing at her squeak. She wrapped him in her powerful legs and hugged his neck, her fingernails scraping his scalp and sending shivers through him. Hermes threw himself into the incredible pleasure of her body, her beating desire and playfulness, their energies clashing and knotting between them. He began to thrust, short and sharp, his cock hammering into her seam and slamming her back over and over against the glass. Her moans came ragged and deep and rough. Her inner walls pulsing and grasping his cock, the sensation intense and all-encompassing.

“Fuck, Dite, you feel incredible,” Hermes moaned into her neck, sucking on it to steady his breathing.

“Hermes…” she keened. “Hermes, yes! Harder! Harder!”

“Anything you want, Lady Love.” He ground her against the window with a long, musical screech of her skin, sticky with sweat, sliding on the pane. He ploughed deeper, clutching her to him desperately, their bodies rubbing together and burning, wrapped by the cold from the whirling snow. Their motions turned crazed, Hermes pistoning so rapidly his legs felt ready to split, Aphrodite battering against the window, the impact booming through the house.

“Fuck me, Hermes!”

“Gods! Yeah!”

“Harder! Gods, yes, don’t hold back. Fuck me!”

Her demands were tearing him to shreds, his body aching with the pleasure and the effort, his cock slicking in and out of her and hardening until it was as heavy as stone, his arms straining from her weight. With a smile against her throat, he guessed she was testing his stamina as playful punishment for turning the tables. He moaned and flashed to her mouth, pulling kisses from her between stifled moans and gasps and pleas. With half-open eyes, he saw the icicles raining light on her, like a halo.

Aphrodite clung to Hermes’ kiss. He sawed in and out of her roughly, her back smarting from the bite of ice. Her shoulders and neck hummed with the pleasing, bruising feeling of his love bites and the thrusting against the hard window. She buried her hands in his thick hair and took his thick cock like the earth takes roots. She scrunched her abs, matching his thrusts, drawing him deeper, feeling him swell inside her and stretch her with pulses of pleasure. Cold and heat, pain and bliss warred in her flesh. She surged and fought herself back. She felt his surge and his own resistance. They locked their mouths, slowed a moment, then quickened their rocking. The walls of the house rattled. The glass chimed. Snow burst in flurries behind her. 

She surged again, and slipped in his strong arms with a yelp. Hermes gathered her closer and breathed tenderly onto her cheek. “I’ve got you, Dite. I’ll hold you up.”

Of course he would. Hermes held everyone up. He held Olympus and the Underworld and the Mortal Realm. He kept everything moving. He fought with his own chaos to keep everything in order for everyone else. Well, just this once, it was his turn to relax. 

“Stop,” she whispered.

He obeyed her immediately, pausing inside her, her walls still squeezing his thickness. He cradled her in his arms and looked at her gently, his chest pumping with breathlessness. “You OK?” he asked.

Aphrodite stroked his arms, signalling him to let her go. Her feet lowered to the carpet. She caught her breath, stroking around his shining torso.

“Was I hurting you?” he said anxiously.

“No, no, Winter Berry, that felt fucking amazing.” Aphrodite soothed, patting his cheek. “But I can feel you working so hard to please me. You do that too much with everyone already. Let’s switch things up.”

Hermes blinked at her, his cheeks glimmering crimson. She pushed him back, both of them groaning, as he slipped out of her. She spun him by his shoulders and pushed down. He dropped to his knees. She dropped astride him and whipped the ribbon from around his thigh. She caught up his wrists, raised them crossed above his head, and bound them to the handle of the French window. Crystal flakes tumbled about him, like he was in a snow globe. She tied the bow with a final flourish and lowered her hands to cup his face.

Hermes smiled, twisting his wrists to test them. “Mean,” he grumbled mockingly.

“Not mean.” She kissed his nose. “You’re one of those people who won’t rest unless forced. So, you hang there and let me take care of you.”

Hermes settled beneath her, snatching a kiss from her teasing pout. “OK, I’m all yours, Lavender Lips.”

She chuckled. “I knew that already.”

They were both still smiling, as she brought him by his jaw into a deep, slow kiss. She found his frantic energy and harnessed it, taking control of his jittery speed and reining it in, making him indulge in every motion of her mouth. He tasted of the cocoa, the sweetness and tingling tang of marshmallows and jelly beans. She sighed. Need pooled in her abdomen and simmered. She curled her fingers around his cock, sighing at its hard girth. She knelt up, drawing his mouth to suck her nipple, then sank back down, taking him deep inside her. Their moans pinged off the glass. Hermes writhed in his bonds, his fingers flexing towards her. She chuckled and started to rock, slowly, twisting and taunting. Her fingertips danced around his body.

“Di… Dite…” Hermes murmured, his eyes rolling back into his head. “Fates, your body…”

“Feel it, Hermes. Turn everything else off and just feel me.” 

“Gods, whatever you say.”

She put her hands on the back of his neck and sped up her thrusts, not just bouncing on his cock, but rolling her whole body, submerging him waves of sensation and weight, bringing his cock deeper and deeper, pleasure encasing her. Her body pressed to his and moved on him, like wine pouring over spices in a hot pan. He moaned long and low and dropped his head back against the glass. The snow drifted behind him, showering him with pure, cleansing light. 

“Aphrodite…” he whispered, his chest expanding and deflating with shuddering, controlled breaths. “Fuck…Oh, yeah...”

Frost stole down his back, the cold pushed his hips up to meet her rolling motions. They rose and fell together, silence descending, except for their panting and the wet sound of his sliding cock and the creak of the handle, as Hermes pulled down on it with needy squirms. Pleasure spiralled through their nerves and arteries from where their bodies connected, until they were caught together in an electrified net. 

Hermes was swept entirely away. The rough excitement of giving her pleasure tumbling into the dreamy, caressing bliss of having pleasure poured over him and drawn vampirically from his body. The ribbon gnawed his wrists and his arms ached. The pain was brushed away by a rush of near release.

“Oh, Gods, Dite!” he choked.

Aphrodite felt it. He was so close to the zenith. The trance he’d fallen into filled her senses, like narcotic smoke. They kissed again. They surged again. And again. And again. Kiss. Surge. Kiss. Surge.

“Dite…” Hermes murmured. “I… I’m gonna…”

“Fates, me too,” Aphrodite moaned. 

She moved with incredible control, steering his pleasure, like the wind with a kite. He was suspended in the cool of the window and the spin of snow and the drowning waves of her rolling thrusts. 

“Oh, Dite!”

“Oh, Hermes!”

Her core pulsed, her flesh was burned, the blood thrummed in her lips from the way he sucked on them when he kissed her over and over and over and over and…

“Oh! Yes! Yes! YES!” With one final surge of sensation, Aphrodite was cast over the edge. Her climax gushed through her body, like champagne bursting from the bottle. She shivered and moaned and bucked, grasping Hermes’ hair and clinging desperately, as the pleasure bubbled around her, clogging her senses and her airways.

“Fuck! Oh, yeah!” Hermes followed, his body turning to popping candy, crackling and fizzing with sensation, rushing him with sweetness. He clawed at the ribbon and writhed and gasped for breath. The final scraps of stress and speed were ripped from his flesh, leaving him raw and weak and peaceful. 

“Oh, yeah, yeah, Fates…”

“Gods, you… That… Gods…”

They melted into one more kiss, the snow blanketing the window and enclosing them in a quiet shell.

*

Aphrodite huddled in Hermes’ shirt. She was curled on the carpet, with her elbow on the coffee table, writing a letter on a piece of lilac paper. The soft sound of Hermes’ snores lulled her into an easy peace. She glanced over at him and smiled. He had snuggled to her on the couch and fallen into a sleep so deep, she’d only witnessed its like in her children. His hair was tangled around his face and a blanket was tangled around his naked body. She shuffled over to him, arranged the blanket around him, and stroked his hair back off his face. He didn’t so much as stir.

For a god of thieves, it had been embarrassingly easy to guess the password on his phone and send a text to Hecate:  _ Hey Boss, I’m really sorry but I think flying in the snow gave me a cold, I feel like Tartarus. Gotta take the rest of the day, I’ll be fighting fit tomorrow. _

His nose twitched. She chuckled under her breath and shuffled back to her letter.

_ My Darling Ares… _

*

Hermes landed in the padding of snow on the army camp field and skidded through it, like he was on a skateboard, the cool wind rushing past his face and filling his lungs. The snow splashed from his heels and whisked in the air from his laughter. He jarred to a halt in front of a smirking Ares, leaving two deep furrows behind him.

“Hey, Big Guy!” He yapped, clapping Ares on his muscled arm.

Ares raised an eyebrow. “You seem better.”

Hermes grinned. “Yeah, I am, thanks. Yesterday turned out pretty nice.” He ran a hand through his tousled hair and grinned broader. 

Ares fought to contain a smile. He nodded. “Alright, Firecracker, what’ve you got for me?”

Hermes fished a lilac envelope from his satchel and tossed it like a frisbee to Ares. Ares snatched it out of the air.

Hermes interlaced his fingers behind his head and beamed up to the forget-me-not blue of the winter sky. Ares opened the letter eagerly. A whisper of her perfume teased his senses.

_ My Darling Ares, _

_ I’m so sorry you can’t be with us for the holidays, but don’t worry, I’m saving up so much fun for you, it will be like you were never away when you’re finally home. It’s not about how long or how often we’re apart, it’s about how we connect in those times, and what it means to us when we’re together. And it means everything, my hunky, honey bear.  _

_ The most important thing is you take care of yourself and your boys, and you keep missing me so bad that it makes you an absolute animal when you walk through this door. _

_ Happy Holidays, my heart. I love you in places deeper than my soul. _

_ Aph xxx _

Ares' eyes prickled. His heart swelled in his broad chest. 

_ P. S. Your present is the one with the ribbon on it. _

Ares blinked. The corner of his mouth twitched. He looked up at the lithe, beaming messenger, dazzling his wide eyes in the iced sun. Wrapped around his wrist, just peeking from the sleeve of his jacket, was a bright violet ribbon.

Hermes glanced down and saw Ares’ eyes on him. He raised his eyebrows. “What?”

Ares grinned.


End file.
